Competition in the festival market has important implications for South African arts/cultural festivals. To assist a festival to remain sustainable, market segmentation is an effective tool to divide existing and potential markets into homogenous groups based on meaningful characteristics. The aim of this article is to segment visitors (by using visitor expenditure as segmentation method) to one of South Africa's largest arts festivals, namely the Aardklop National Arts Festival held annually in Potchefstroom in the North West province. A questionnaire survey (N 01 671) was conducted annually at the festival and data from 2005 to 2008 were analysed. In the results four expenditure segments were identified and the analysis confirmed significant differences in socio-demographic and behavioural variables/ characteristics between these different expenditure groups. Managerial and marketing implications are consequently proposed for the festival organisers.

PURPOSE:The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between visitor spending patterns, and previous and planned return visits as well as demographic and trip characteristics of supporters to the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon held annually in Cape Town. PROBLEM INVESTIGATED:Spectator sport is a significant segment of the tourism industry which also has a considerable economic impact on host communities. For this reason, communities and destinations have recognised and attempt to capitalise on hosting large sporting events. In this regard visitor spending is crucial since information concerning the latter can provide sport event organisers to focus their marketing efforts to attract optimal economic benefits. In addition, the relationship of previous visits to a sport event and intended re-visits to visitor spending has received increasing attention since it is believed that repeat visitation is associated with higher levels of expenditure. However limited attention is currently being paid to the relationship between spectator spending patterns and previous and planned return visits in a South African sport spectator context even though the latter has a direct impact on the future sustainability of an event.METHODOLOGY: A supporter survey was done for the first time in 2010 (30 March -2 April 2010) at the event and 430 questionnaires were completed. Factor analysis and regression analysis are used to analyse the data and to identify the relationship between repeat visits and visitor spending patterns. FINDINGS:Results from this study shows that it is predominantly socio-demographic variables that influence travel behaviour. The significant socio-demographic determinants that influence spending per person are gender, language and province of origin while the only behavioural determinant was group size. The results also revealed that there is no significant relationship between spectator spending, repeat attendance and intention to re-visit. However, repeat attendance does have a significant influence on spectators' intention to re-visit and spectators who have attended the race more times have a higher intention to revisit in the future. ORIGINALITY AND CONCLUSION:Results from his innovative study showed that although no statistically significant relationship was established, a strong relationship between repeat visits and intention to revisit was found. A significant contribution to the literature is evident since the focus is on spectators at a sports event as opposed to participants. It was the first study of its kind in South Africa and the importance of the role and function of spectators at an event is highlighted. As a further contribution, prominent differences regarding the participants were evident when compared to previous studies on participants at other South African sports events. Event organisers can use this information to effectively promote the event in order to attract supporters and to generate revenue for Cape Town during the event but especially months after the race. The la...

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Competition in the South African arts festival market is an evident problem and is associated with changes in ticket purchase behaviour among performing arts patrons and declining ticket sales. This holds a negative implication for arts festivals, since visitors who purchase tickets tend to stay for longer periods and spend more than visitors not interested in ticketed shows/productions. Ticket sales from audiences are also one of festivals' main sources of income. Targeting the visitors who attend these shows/productions is therefore a viable management goal. The focus of this article is to identify and analyse the key factors that contribute to ticket purchases at selected arts festivals in South Africa in order to provide festival organisers with the necessary insight to develop effective marketing strategies that target their ticket-purchasing market. A factor analysis was performed on the dataset of the two festivals and revealed seven factors; all of the Cronbach's Alpha values were valid. Effect sizes were calculated to determine possible differences between categories pertaining to age and number of days the festival was attended. The results revealed no statistically significant differences and therefore suggest that this market is relatively homogenous. Managerial and marketing implications are consequently proposed for the festival organisers.

growth in the number of festivals urges festival organizers and researchers alike to find ways to effectively identify and attract visitors. the reason for this is an increase in competition due to an increase in the number of events as well as a greater need for festivals to contribute to the economic well-being of communities where these events/festivals are hosted. One such approach is segmentation by means of information sources, associated expenditure, and frequency of visitation. the Wacky Wine Festival in robertson, South Africa is one of the country's largest wine festivals. this wine festival is unique in that it takes place on an existing wine route where 48 wine farms actively participate in the festival. this article presents the results of a survey that was conducted during the festival in June 2009 when visitors to the festival completed 424 questionnaires. the aim of this exploratory research was to determine first-time and repeat visitors' information source preference at the festival as well as the associated expenditure. Correspondence analysis, as well as AnOVAs, was used to analyze the data. the results revealed that visitors to the Wacky Wine Festival have specific preferences for certain information sources and that visitors' expenditure at the festival also varies. the results also revealed valuable information concerning the design and implementation of marketing strategies aimed at both first-time and repeat visitors at the festival.